What I Did On My Summer Vacation

It seems that a lot of time has passed since my last post (it has). Our last volunteer group left Aug. 8 to return to Maryland. That has given me a little time to relax after the fast, fast, fast-paced summer work and to write a bit for you. So as I sit with a cup of coffee next to me, I can briefly recount what has transpired this summer.

For this year, we had five weeks slated to operate. Half-way through those five weeks, one week was a “free” week; that is, free of groups but still full of work to prepare for the remaining groups to come. Our first group was the youth group from Grace Fellowship Church in Baltimore, Maryland. I think they brought 35 people, give or take a couple. The youth group is called Shockwave and they are usually the first group of the summer every year. The kids are great to be with and they work very hard. This was a week of many inside jokes (You’re getting a little saucy there!).

The second week came a group of leaders from Grace Fellowship Church. They brought about 35 or so people with them. This is the week that sewage backed up into junction box where the waste pipes from individual waste pipes meet. Not knowing what was wrong, I wrapped my arm in several trash bags up to the elbow and felt around to see what was blocking the pipe. Not finding the problem, Brian started hauling about 15 buckets of sewage to the septic tank at the corner of the property. Within 24 hours, we discovered the problem (rocks lodged in the waste pipe between the junction box and the fosa septica [septic tank]). Our guests took it in stride, God bless ‘em. This was the week of mainly family units and I think a lot of them got closer as they spent time praying and working together. One family shared with me how they see more clearly what Jesus means when he says he offers us abundant life. They are in the process of stripping themselves of material possessions they have accumulated in the mistaken belief that that is abundant life. As relatively new followers of Christ, they are now seeking to live more simply at the feet of Jesus. They are changing their thinking and choosing to believe the truth that as co-heirs with Jesus Christ, we already have it all. Here is a picture of the group from the second week:



The “off” week was spent fixing broken things, cleaning and arranging for the two weeks of huge groups to come.

During week 3 we hosted a youth group from Eastpointe Christian Church in Maine along with another smaller group from Baltimore. The total number of people was about 55. Counting the staff of the Cuirim House and the Donohue’s children, the total number of people sleeping here was 63. The interior space of the Cuirim House including sleeping quarters, bathrooms and the kitchen totals about 2,000 square feet. Imagine having 63 people sleeping in your house for a week. This was the largest one group of people here this summer and the largest number to date at the Cuirim House at one time. Eastpointe built the jungle gym and hosted a carnival at the Kid’s Café in addition to working on construction projects.




For week 4, we hosted a group of alumni from Cambridge School near Baltimore as well as the youth group from my home church, Grace Church in Lynchburg, Virginia and a group from Belcroft Bible Church in the Baltimore area. We had about 58 people sleeping here. This was the week we began construction on the drug treatment center. The groups jumped into the work and we put the fence in, put up the walls for the dorm, poured cement floors and began the chapel. This week also saw a stomach bug sweep through the Cuirim House. The picture below is of a local working with two of the Grace Church youth to pick up free tires to use to make stairs to someone's house.





For the last operating week of the summer, a small group of 8 people came from River Valley Ranch in the greater Baltimore area. Even though this was the smallest group of the summer, they worked very, very hard and much was accomplished on the drug treatment center. Here is Brian and I installing chicken wire for the cement to stick to. That's how you make stucco in Mexico.



I don’t have complete numbers of how many construction projects we completed this summer but I do think we poured at least 25 cement floors. In no particular order, we built tire stairs for several families, installed a large tire wall, stuccoed several houses, put on several new roofs, and built and installed screen doors for several families. The youth group from Maine built the slide/swing set/jungle gym at the Kid’s Café.

Additionally, we did several projects at the church to prepare to expand the church building as the numbers increase. We continued working on the soccer field including extending the fence higher to keep the ball in play and building new goals. Other projects included painting people’s wood houses with used motor oil to make the wood water-resistant. (I like to think that between using old tires for stairs and water-proofing with used motor oil, we are at the forefront of recycling here.) Finally, every week we made food for indocumentados (illegals) deported from the U.S. who are stuck in Nogales. This was by far what I enjoyed the most this summer. I was able to talk to many men and women who shared about their families and why they crossed illegally. I’m going to write more about this soon; there is a lot I want to say about it.

The daily rhythms of prayer, work and study helped to get us out of thinking about ourselves and into thinking of God and our neighbors. Being out of our comfort zones allows us to finally hear what God has been saying to us all along. I know of at least one teen from one of the visiting youth groups who responded to God, trusting his future to Jesus and putting his life in the hands of the Savior. I am also aware of another young man who visited with his parents from Baltimore. He made a great connection with a Mexican peer in the local church and made a last-minute decision to return for another week with the group from River Valley Ranch. We enjoyed having him here and we were very happy that he decided to come back again. I think that God has great things in store for these young men as they continue to respond to God’s leading.

All of you who pray for us and donate your time and finances have had a part in all of our summer work. Your involvement is vital in inviting God to hold back the darkness that seeks to engulf our friends and neighbors in Nogales. As we pray and ask for God’s presence, he fills our streets and homes with light and peace. If the local church is a beach head in the lucha (struggle or fight) to proclaim Jesus’ name in Nogales, then the Cuirim House, the Kid’s Café and now the drug treatment center are the result of God moving forward into enemy territory. It is really awesome to know that we join God in this. He is already at work and always is. God doesn’t want people to go hungry, to be without shelter or to be ignorant of Him. Of this, I am confident. It isn’t what he originally planned for us as his creatures. Now, He takes the initiative to bring us into a life that is way better than we could have ever dreamt. We long for peace and righteousness in Nogales. We long for everyone to know intimately the one who gave his life for them. This is why we live.